EXCERPT: “Anticipating a less affordable future, Philadelphia is considering requiring developers of residential projects of 10 units or more to set aside 10 percent of units at rents or purchase prices below market rate. New Orleans has a similar voluntary program right now — and it could become permanent. In Boston, developers can pay into an affordable housing fund to get zoning clearance to build bigger. Such programs and policies, referred to as inclusionary housing or inclusionary zoning, are being used across the U.S., but their reach is uneven, according to a new working paper from the think tank Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Grounded Solutions, a national network of inclusive housing organizations. Also uneven: the way cities track what these policies accomplish.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2yc6fcY

EXCERPT: “If you’re a millennial in search of a good place to live, you might find what you’re looking for in Middle America. Despite stabilizing rent prices in popular coastal markets like New York City, Boston, and San Francisco, these places remain unaffordable for the average millennial. Cities in the Midwest and South, however, offer affordable housing, stable and well-paying jobs, and a good quality of life.” FULLSTORY: http://read.bi/2yE8xOS

EXCERPT: “By general rule-of-thumb, housing costs should not exceed 30 percent of a household’s total income. But in many cities across the country, families spend a sizable share of income on rent, mortgage payment, utilities and other housing-related expenses. As housing costs climb in some areas, wages have failed to keep pace.” CITY-LEVEL DATA: http://bit.ly/2fN1Ym0

EXCERPT: According to a recent report by Abodo, housing costs devour at least 30 percent of the income of about 21 million renters in America. The latter figure represents about half of the nation’s renters. Abodo analyzed U.S. Census data for its study. Broken down by generation, Abodo, it shows that about 47 percent of Millennial renters face a housing cost burden. For Baby Boomers, the millstone is heavier at 49 percent. The least rental-oppressed are Gen Xers, according to Abodo, at 44 percent. Locally, Millenials are faring slightly better, and the Baby Boomer generation is faring slightly worse. ‘At a city level,’ says Abodo spokesperson Sam Radbil, ‘we found that in Minneapolis more than 40.1 percent of Millennials are spending at least 30 percent of their income on rent. And 44.6 percent of Gen Xers and 50.1 percent of Baby Boomers are doing the same.’ Believe it or not, the percentage for Millennials is actually ‘a pretty good sign for the city,’ according to Radbil. With about 40 percent of its Millennials spending 30 percent on rent, Minneapolis ranks 94th (out of 100) among the most cost-burdened cities for that age cohort. The website’s study could not come at a more important time. Minneapolis city staff recently released its own report on housing stability in Minnesota’s largest city. The stats show if Minneapolis isn’t already in an affordable housing crisis, then it’s on the cusp of one.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2vSmAlg

EXCERPT: “During the 2013-to-2015 period, worst case needs for housing assistance persisted at high levels across demographic groups, household types, and regions. Worst case needs are defined as renters with very low incomes— no more than 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI)—who do not receive government housing assistance and who pay more than one-half of their income for rent, live in severely inadequate conditions, or both. Worst Case Housing Needs: 2017 Report to Congress examines the causes of and trends in worst case needs, using the most recent data from the American Housing Survey (AHS).1 Substantial unmet needs for affordable rental housing remain even as incomes are improving. The unmet need for decent, safe, and affordable rental housing continues to outpace the ability of federal, state, and local governments to supply housing assistance and facilitate affordable housing production.” FULLREPORT: http://bit.ly/2uCXic6

EXCERPT: “Each year, the federal government delivers approximately US$8 billion in low-income housing tax credits to housing developers that agree to set aside a certain number of units as rent-controlled affordable housing for qualified tenants. Since it began in 1986, the program has helped create at least 45,905 affordable housing projects with nearly three million units. Some recent research suggests that the affordable housing properties built with the tax credits help to integrate and revitalize otherwise poverty-stricken neighborhoods . . . In a recent report, Rebecca Diamond and Tim McQuade from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business offered new empirical evidence to support the view that the tax-subsidized properties benefit surrounding areas. They found that the projects increased property values, lowered the crime rate and spurred economic and racial integration – as long as the buildings were located in low-income neighborhoods where more than half the population was black or Latino.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2wBAcj6

EXCERPT: “The Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area is a prime example of how strong employment growth is putting a strain on the housing supply available in many U.S. cities. Since 2000, the number of Twin Cities households that face a housing cost burden—defined as spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing—has increased by 25 percent to a total of 199,000 households as of 2015, according to the Metropolitan Council. Minneapolis/Saint Paul now has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States among large cities at 3.4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The disconnect between where businesses are expanding and where their employees can afford to live was one of the topics addressed at a recent ULI Minnesota event. ‘You have this need for workers. You have a growing immigrant population that is going to serve part of that need, and you have a growing native-born population that will serve part of that need. What happens if there is not housing to meet the growing needs of the population?’ asked Lisa Sturtevant, senior visiting fellow at ULI’s Terwilliger Center for Housing.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2vx3Jxg

EXCERPT: “The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released the ‘Reforming the Mortgage Interest Deduction: How Tax Reform Can Help End Homelessness and Housing Poverty’ report . . . calling for Congress and the Trump administration to use mortgage interest deduction (MID) reform to end homelessness and housing poverty in America. The report identifies solutions to the homelessness and affordable housing crisis in America that would incur no additional cost to the federal government, those proposed by the NLIHC-led United for Homes(UFH) campaign. The report and UFH campaign call for modest reforms to the mortgage interest deduction (MID)—a $70 billion tax write-off that primarily benefits higher income households—and for reinvesting the billions in savings in affordable housing for the lowest income families with the greatest needs . . . The report shows that each year the federal government spends almost $200 billion to help Americans buy and rent their homes. Seventy-five percent of these resources goes to subsidize higher income homeowners through the MID and other homeownership tax breaks. In fact, the federal government spends more to help the 7 million households with incomes above $200,000 than to help the 55 million households with incomes below $50,000, even though they are far more likely to struggle to afford a place to live. Many experts from across the ideological spectrum point out that the MID is a poorly targeted and wasteful use of federal resources that encourage households to take on higher levels of debt, fails to promote homeownership, disrupts the housing market by inflating housing costs, and mostly benefits higher income households who do not need federal assistance to live in stable homes. Many economists have called for eliminating the MID altogether.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2uWRFE1

EXCERPT: “In the 15 years that the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) has tracked sales trends of Twin Cities homes, the median selling price has never crossed over a quarter of a million dollars. That changed in June, said David Arbit, director of research and economics at MAAR, when as the price for a home in the 13-county area hit $259,000 last month . . . A historically low number of housing options for sale has driven up prices of those on the market. With fewer homes on the market last June than any other summer month on record, Twin Cities buyers are bidding fast and high. The average home last month sold in 47 days, about 16 percent faster than a year ago. “Similarly, the median percent of original list price received at sale was 100 percent, meaning half of the sales closed for over list price,” MAAR added. Despite soaring prices, many homeowners are wary to put their houses up for sale given the fierce competition they’d face in finding a new home. As a result, new listings fell by half a percent in June compared to last year. Just under 12,500 homes remained for sale at the end of June, MAAR said. Taking current trends—and assuming no new listings were created—the metro area’s real estate market would bottom out in two-and-a-half months. Typically, realtors consider five to six months of supply to be a balanced market, according to MAAR.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2tg9omB

EXCERPT: “In the Twin Cities, well, we aren’t particularly well-known for urban density or suburban sprawl. Yet Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of only a few metro areas that became more dense, rather than more sprawling, since 2010. That’s according to a new analysis published recently in the New York Times’ The Upshot . . .In the Twin Cities, average Census tract density increased by 0.8 percent between 2010 and 2016. That’s less than the 3 percent rate in Seattle, the metro gaining the most density, and 1.2 percent in Chicago. But it outpaces cities like Austin (-5 percent) and San Antonio (-5.3 percent) which are actually getting less dense.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2uryxPm